Theory of propagation of slow heat waves in a catalytic bed in a reversible reaction

We have performed a qualitative and numerical analysis of the simplest model of slow heat waves propagating in a fixed catalytic bed in the presence of a first-order reversible reaction. A one-parameter family of autowave solutions subject to the boundary conditions of the problem is shown to exist. From the continuum of solutions, one can choose a unique physically reasonable solution that is a slow heat wave. The existence conditions for slow heat waves and the effect of the model parameters on the velocity of their propagation have been studied. Institute of Catalysis, Siberian Division, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk 630090. Translated from Fizika Goreniya i Vzryva, Vol. 33, No. 5, pp. 52–61, September–October, 1997.